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jawgee
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 2:53pm | IP Logged
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Outgrown clothing. 
Oh, wow, I really need to think about this. I have everything....0-3 month boys, 0-3 month girls, 3-6 month boys, 3-6 month girls, etc., etc., etc.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 3:16pm | IP Logged
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Here is what is working for us right now on clothes storage. Of course, there is just 2 dc in our family which makes this sort of thing easier. We were storing stuff in the basement in large tubs, but I hated going down and it was just a pain. Things were going unused and I was buying things we didn't need. I had to move the storage to the main floor. Our closets have a top shelf that isn't easy to access or at least it's hard to get larger items on this shelf. This causes it not to get used. I bought these storage units because they weren't tall and would fit on the shelf and they weren't heavy so I can easily maneuver. These would also work under bed. Nothing special about this system, but it works perfect for us. I also didn't get plastic containers that would be cheaper because they aren't flexible and would take more effort for me to get up on the top shelf. If I didn't have the closet space I would put them under beds. I also don't hang onto anything once the youngest outgrows it. Of course if your family is still growing this may be a lot more storage. Perhaps keeping stuff the youngest has outgrown into a different location as it could be year(s) until needed again.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 6:48pm | IP Logged
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I did have the things the baby had outgrown shoved in the back, but with another baby due in July, I really have to make EVERYTHING accessible 
Fortunately for this project, I only have boys so far, which makes things simpler than they otherwise would be with 4 going on 5 children. I only have sizes to worry about, though, I do have a small stash of baby girl clothes I inherited from a friend moving this winter. We'll see if the new baby complicates things further 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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amyable
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 12:59pm | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
I did read a decluttering book during that Lent that gave me a great one-liner to keep in mind. When you consider an item, ask yourself this as you pick it up: will this come in handy sometime in the future?
If the answer is yes, then it is clutter.
That simple- the genius and truth of it made me laugh out aloud when I read it.
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OK, color me clueless, but I've been thinking about this line for the past two days, and I have no idea what it means.  Why is it clutter if the answer is yes? I think it's all just too deep for me.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 1:20pm | IP Logged
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I saw it as referring to all those items we hold onto thinking we will use them someday... only someday never comes.
It could be a cookbook, a scrapbooking kit, an unopened puzzle, a set of new dish towels... anything. Mostly stuff that you save because you are mildly interested in it but don't have the time right now to use it. Or maybe you might use it someday- like a calligraphy kit or whatever.
So you store it, move it around, rearrange it... it is clutter, yes?
Or it could be stuff that you have used but don't anymore but save it thinking that someone else might use it someday. You don't scrapbook, but you save that kit thinking one of your dc might use it someday.
It is kind of deep... it kicked me from behind when I realized how true it is.
And, ugh- now I go around my house looking at all the stuff that I have but I don't actually use on a regular basis. Should I keep that stuff, too?
A few years ago a neighbor was really excited to pass on to me a Sesame Street piano that her children had dearly loved. She had stored it away, and it just needed a good cleaning. As I cleaned it, though, it FELL APART! Literally- disintegrated.
That was a good lesson for me... things don't last forever. Better to pass it on now and let other kids have the fun of it vs. storing it until it rots away 
I think the funniest thing about all this is that I put stuff into bags to donate and then I can't even remember the very next day what is in the bag.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 3:22pm | IP Logged
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I just some how escaped to the garage and went through the boys outdoor toys and filled up the trash with unused and broken toys. I didn't get caught!! My youngest did noticed the power wheels in the driveway and I told him that it would be gone. Two wheels are broken, but he still cried. Hoping no one opens the trash can!!  Now if only I could do that with all of dh's "toys" too!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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amyable
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 5:27pm | IP Logged
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Thank you Melinda, that makes sense now! By that definition, at least 75% of the stuff in my house is clutter. 
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 06 2013 at 10:44am | IP Logged
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OK- garage clean out today definitely puts us over 40 bags here. Hooray!
And yet I still feel burdened by all that is left. I read LL Montgomery's "Blue Castle" recently, and I was struck by the main character's line about not wanting a house that bosses her. I feel bossed 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 06 2013 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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Love this post from The One Hundred Thing Challenge. I am quoting a portion of it here:
As I declutter, I ask myself a couple of questions. Some of them are the typical ones you see in every organizing book out there:
Does this item get used on a regular basis?
Do I love this item?
Is this item bringing me joy?
But I have another one that has proved helpful: Does this item fit with who I am?
Not who I thought I would be; not who I want to be; not who others tell me I’m supposed to be. Does this fit with who God has made me (personally and uniquely) to be?
I feel like that last one was written just for me, especially in regard to gifts
I have been given that don't suit who I am. I have a relative who loves to give me kitchen items like elaborate bundt cake pans and spring form pans (have I ever in my life used a spring form pan?  ).
It's so hard to give away a gift that was lovingly given. This helps.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: April 06 2013 at 12:12pm | IP Logged
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I started the 40 bags for 40 days but didn't get very far. Then an experience put me into hyperdrive! My mil and fil recently had to move to an assisted care facility. This is something they have needed to do for 4 years. They've had their house on the market but it hasn't sold. They've been waiting to sell their house so they can move.
All of a sudden, as their health took drastic turns for the worse, they decided it was time. They called dh down to help and they gave it one month. At the end of the month they would auction off the house and anything left in it that they couldn't take with them.
They couldn't take much with them and what they did take is crammed into their small apartment now. Everything else was auctioned off. My dh was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff they had. They are in a sort of depression because all their treasures have been sold. It's very sad to see and explain.
I told dh I did not want that to happen to us. I want to be able to be free of our stuff if that should be a necessity some day. I don't want to be so attached that it takes such an emotional toll to let it go.
So that has given me more energy and I have been ruthless. Baby toys, clothes for "someday", old videos, even some books. All getting packaged up and taken to good will, the pregnancy center, or wherever. I'm even thinking about getting out the box of my china and actually using it, even if it gets chipped. My mil has boxes and boxes of beautiful dishes and my dh had never even seen them.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 06 2013 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Oh, Becky- that is powerful!
What *is* it that makes us so darned attached to stuff?
I was just thinking that in all life's ups and downs there has never been a moment when I have thought: Oh! If I just had that old shirt/exercise video/cake pan back again I would feel so much better.
It's funny that you mentioned china... my current every day dishes are in bad shape, and I am wanting to replace them. And I was thinking I might just dig out my china and use it instead of buying new. It belonged to my grandmother and is not a complete set. Why not??
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 06 2013 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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Oh Becky!  That is hard! But, you have learned from the experience and that makes it good.
I so agree about getting out the good china and using it!! If things aren't used they are just clutter!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: 40 bags in 40 days.
